It’s been 3 weeks since I entered my sophomore year and I have to say it’s not too bad right now. The grades are looking kind of high, I’ve met up with some friends from the previous year, and my teachers aren’t too bad and seem to know their stuff. But a new year also means a new debate season has started. Even though our first tournament is around a month from now, I’ve been looking at certain topics that are hot right now. For example, people focus on a world organizational group called BRICS. BRICS is an organization made up of the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The global influence they have is incredible. With over a quarter of the world’s population and a THIRD of the global GDP, it’s a no brainer to see that this group is immensely powerful. But how do they handle all of this power? With all these resources at hand, surely a bunch of them will be used to help the people in general needs. Maybe fix the homelessness problem in India or something like that. Some people are opposed to this group having crazy power. Americans mostly. America potentially joining this group is a difficult topic to speak about. I mean if they somehow join hands with Russia and are allowed into the group, BRICS will turn into the most powerful group in the world. Already with huge superpowers present the addition of the US would be huge. But talks are there about making all countries involved with BRICS adopt the same currency system. We already know that prideful Americans wont accept this. They also might feel something building up against them with all these powerful countries joining together. It’s a long shot, but I personally believe that the US should join this group. The economic potential is crazy. This year in South Africa, the biggest meeting of BRICS leaders will take place. Around 69 leaders will be attending. Let us make the right choice, round it out, and make it 70